As one of the newcomers to Season 2 of Game Of Thrones, Gwendoline Christie, who plays one of the knights in Renly Baratheon’s retinue, is stepping right into the fire, as Westeros hurtles further and further into outright warfare.

Christie plays Brienne of Tarth, a remarkable role even on a show like Game Of Thrones which has no shortage of strong female characters. In George RR Martin’s second book, A Clash Of Kings, Brienne is a loyal knight and fearless warrior, who holds fast to an idealised vision of knighthood almost at odds with the cynicism of the world around her, constantly forced to stand her ground against the bitter jibes of her male rivals.

“I think it’s a really inspirational character to have on a programme of this type,” agrees Christie, “because there hasn’t been that sort of character in a mainstream show before, particularly one that’s defying so many gender stereotypes and hopefully it’s a very inspirational character for women.”